


In Alternate Space

by EscapedMinds



Category: Black Mirror
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, New Relationship, Out of Character, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), mention of rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 09:13:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13971906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapedMinds/pseuds/EscapedMinds
Summary: Alternate Ending to the episode "USS Callister." And both James and Robert remember how they became friends in the first place.





	1. In the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a happy ending after seeing this episode and somehow this huge multiple chapter fanfic wrote itself. I'm a bit of a sap so James kind of became one as well, sorry it's slightly ooc. I was curious to know how they knew each other and their relationship before James was an asshole CEO and this came out.

Months? Maybe even years? He doesn’t know anymore he’s been in this game for so long that he’s lost all sense of time. In the beginning his anger and spite for Daly kept him going but after that incident, even that has been taken from him. He’s a mere shell of his former self, not even the alcohol on the ship helped. Even though try as he might to pretend it did. However this new predicament he’s found himself in as of late has found him confused. Never had he foreseen Daly to want to, for lack of a better word fuck him. 

Coming down from their high and basking in the after sex glow the captain slipped up and his normally cold stony persona warmed up a bit. “I wish in the real world you would’ve respected me….And even let me take you out on a date.”He realizes his momentary mishap and the persona slides back into place as he gather’s his clothes and exits the game, leaving a baffled Walton behind. 

He pitied the man, he wished his real self would let up on him, just once. But somewhere deep down in his heart he was happy that he could be a gateway for him. James freezes at that thought, since when had he fallen for him? Every waking moment here he’s hated Daly with every fiber of his being. But somewhere along the way even though he had done some horrendous things to him, he had fallen for him. The pity inside him festered and grew until it became a gaping hole of pity and fondness for his captor. “Stockholm syndrome.” He muttered to himself, and chuckled it was bound to happen eventually. Daly had successfully broken him down, but neither of them expected this to be the end result. 

**Years Later**

Years go by and Daly’s anger towards his office grows and he gathers more characters for his game. Thankfully Walton no longer had to be alone with his thoughts and of course the occasional visits from his captor. He wishes that he was enough, that no one else had to come into the game and endure this hell but alas it never was. The funny thing was growing up he loved video games and his favorite movie was Tron, but he had never thought he’d end up living in a similar hellish world. The only real silver lining of this whole ordeal is that at least Robert isn’t hurting any of the real versions of themselves. 

One day a new comer comes in a brunette, must be a new intern or something and Robert takes an obvious liking to her, even to the point of favoring her. He finds a strange feeling bursting through him jealousy or protector he doesn’t know which only that he needs to take his eyes off of her. James does his very best borderline going overboard becoming the lieutenant that Robert, or his Captain, expects him to be. Trying every which way to garner his favor, stooping so low to even bring out sexual innuendos to help her. But Robert often the prude he can be, they all go over his head and he still eyes up his new toy. Thankfully for all parties involved Robert’s time comes to exit the game, and all eyes go to the new girl. 

Nanette with her giant puppy dog eyes finally settles enough to take in the information that was presented to her by none other than her office workers as clones. “So what do all of you do to waste time?” 

“Not sex.” And Nanette stares at all of them confused.

“None of us have the ability to fuck,” said Shania. Walton had never told any of the other crew members the truth in fear of them hating or pitying him, and the fear of the captain’s wrath. He already had to endure his wrath at the result of whatever his counterpart had done to him that day, he didn’t want any more. The truth that he was the only one on the ship that regained his sexual organs whenever the captain was in the mood. 

 

**After Successfully beating and escaping the clutches of the Captain**

They brace for blissful death on the other side of the wormhole only to come through the other side feeling fresh and new. They observed their new surroundings and found that they are out of Robert’s game and now in the online equivalent of ‘Infinity.’ James turns to everyone celebrating and gives the new appointed captain a look of sheer terror. The cold realization of what they might’ve possibly done to the real Robert Daly had frozen James’ very being. “We need to send a distress call somehow and save him!” 

They all froze dumbfounded at what they had heard and stared at Walton in disbelief. Nanette spoke up with fury in her voice. “Why? He was torturing all of you for years! He killed your kid, made her into a bug, and took my face!” She nearly screamed at the last part. “All of that is true, but we may have just killed a real person! A. I can’t have that on my conscious real or not. And B. when people find out what happened this game could be deemed dangerous if the public finds out it’s co-creator got killed playing it and we could be plugged. And C…”

“C, despite everything you pity him, maybe even fallen for him?!” 

“I saw the way he looks at you and I have my suspicions on what you both do as he orders you to his cabin. You lied when he said he took all of our, you know what!” James gawks at her, how could she have known?

Shania speaks up. “We’ve all known for years Walton, we just didn’t want to talk about, figured he’d hurt you more if he overheard us talking about it.” 

He looks back at everyone dumbfounded, he felt like he was backed up against a wall, and with no other choice he ended up shedding a tear. 

“I….It’s true. When I was the only one here he found out that he could rape me to break me.” He loses his composure and turns away unable to look at his crew members any longer. “And soon enough it became something more, he wore down and he opened up to me. I’ve seen the little glimpses of his old self, the one I knew before he became the monster. The monster that my real self created, I felt responsible and I wanted to bring him back. Bring out more of that honest, kind, man I once knew and saw glimpses of. So that became my mission every day I would play along with his stupid “Space Fleet” game. And I thought I was doing a good job until he started bringing all of you in, I realized that his hate had grown. So even that (my mission) was taken from me, but somewhere deep inside I never gave up on him. I still can’t.” 

“I, I’m sorry James….”Shania moves towards him but James puts up his hand to stop her.

He wipes his tears away and gathers his strength to go on. “He was right about a lot you know. I exploited him for years and tortured him in the real world. I knew the whole office despised him and yet I never gave them shit for it. I never appreciated him, and sometimes never even saw him as a person. Only as a shiny new tool or a pet to do my bidding. I don’t blame him for wanting to return the favor.” He wipes away another tear. “And as fucked up as it is, we’re his outlet. He could be hurting real people the real us. But he doesn’t. “

“So..you condone him torturing us because we’re not real?” Nanette whispers disbelief and anger evident in her voice. 

“Yes!...and no…”

Unable to stifle her anger, “You’re fucked up, you’ve spent too much time with him! This place is getting to you.” 

He wipes away more tears and tries to stand up straight. “All I’m saying is we shouldn’t let him die, we’ll end up becoming monsters like him. And if there’s a chance we can turn him around in the real world I’m gonna take that chance!” 

Nanette looks around her at all of the eyes seeking her approval and somehow the anger dissipates and she caves. “Alright fine, we’ll do it your way, but I refuse to have any part in this.” 

…”Thank you…” 

He enlists Dudani’s help to pilfer through his real self’s phone and finds a photo he knew that he should’ve deleted years ago. It was of his real self fucking his sister in law, he knew that his real self would do anything to prevent his ex from seeing the photo and using it as fuel to prevent his son from ever seeing him again. So they send the photo to his real self with a text saying “I’ll send this to ur ex if you don’t do as follows. Go to your partners home, and override his front door with this voice clip. Remember ur ex will take visiting rights away if she finds out” Now all he can do is wait and hope that his real self would take the bait. 

**Back in the Real World**

 

“What the ever loving fuck how the hell!?” The CEO of a major video game company shouted at the top of his lungs after receiving a very indecent blackmail text. He turns to see the remaining people in the office stare at him questioningly and to hide the shame and the fear he snatched his coat and left the office in a hurry. 

This man’s name was James Walton and he had no idea what to do except to follow through with the text it was simple enough. At least it didn’t ask for a ransom, how bad could it be just to override his partner’s door and enter uninvited right? He arrived at Robert’s door practically on autopilot and pounds on it demanding for Robert to open it. When no one comes to the door he uses the voice file that was sent to him and opens the door. He looks around, and realizes he’s never actually been in here.

Soon enough he finds Robert in front of his computer playing what looked like his own version of Infinity. The smug bastard probably figured he made it so he could have his own private version, who knows what he does in the game. James never played the game himself not once, he was simply too busy with managing the company and a family that ne never had the time.

“Hey Robert can you hear me? Can you exit the game I need to talk to you.” He waits and nothing, he tries to persuade him to come out again and still nothing. Out of curiosity he checks Robert’s pulse only to his horror find that he couldn’t find one. From there on it was a blurry rush of calling for an ambulance and praying he isn’t too late to sitting beside him in the ambulance to finally sitting at his bedside at the hospital crying after hearing the diagnosis. Comatose.


	2. Help from Unexpected Places

Back on the new USS Callister, time once again seemed to stretch on forever for the lieutenant James Walton. He anxiously paced his cabin hoping that his real self would tell him how Robert is doing. Ever since the message and his previous breakdown the captain had thought it’d be best if James had returned to his quarters to rest and resume whenever he felt he was well again. Only it’s been hours or maybe days he doesn’t know anymore, somewhere along the way he must’ve gotten so accustomed to his captain that he was almost dependent on his presence. He knew he had to let go so Robert could be cured in the real world, but that doesn’t mean he still didn’t feel a loss. Walton crossed the room to his computer and hacked into his real self’s computer. Thankfully Dudani had shown him how to before he left to hide in his quarters for however long now. 

He bee lined straight to a folder he knew his real self kept deep down in the recesses of his home computer. In it were two photos. Both of better days with Daly, the one was of them both in their freshman year of college. It was taken months after they had first met. Their first encounter was almost stereotypical, James had run into him rushing to his class and helped him pick up his dropped books.

And ever since then somehow they had clicked and soon became the best of friends. In the photo he had such love struck eyes and during those days he had hoped his partner in crime would never find out what they meant. At least not until he finally had the courage to actually tell him. Towards the end of college Robert began shutting himself out and any and all attempts by James to get him to come out of his shell stopped working. 

The other photo was of the early days of the office. After college he had managed to get in a word with Robert and had coerced him to build a company, to build Infinity. And in those days they worked together fervently and in a way it felt like James had gotten his friend back. But somewhere along the road Robert began closing himself off again and became a cold machine. And in doing so everyone including himself began seeing Daly as nothing but a machine that was capable of taking on anything he threw at him.   
After his trip down memory lane he decided to take action and make contact with his real self again, to at least get them on the same page. He sends the photos with a text saying ‘Remember the better days?’

 

**Real James POV**

 

A hopeless man is sitting in a cold white room with nothing but the sounds of the machine beeping and the scurrying of feet outside the door. Walton the CEO of Infinity is sitting nervously beside his CTO, his old friend, hoping that he’ll come out of the coma in a matter of hours. He stares at his face hoping for any sign of life when a notification sounds from his phone awakening him from his stupor.  
“Another message? What else could they want from me?” He clicks it open and sees the two photos he’s secretly cherished and hasn’t seen in years. Below it was the text ‘Remember the better days?’ He tears up from the photos, they felt like a life time ago. When had things turned to shit and for so long? 

He’s happy that Daly couldn’t see him crying in front of him, he knew he would never be able to hide the reason why. James doesn’t know why but he texts the number back. “He’s in a coma now n the drs don’t no when or even if he’ll come back.” Even though he could be texting to the void or an evil blackmailer it still feels good to him to talk to someone about this.

His ex wouldn’t understand and one else knew the old Daly. All of the office member had not cared for him and some even hated him. He hadn’t expected a reply back but he hoped there would be. That somehow this mysterious person could help bring Daly back. He tried to convince himself it was for the sake of the company but he knew deep down it was more than that. Feelings he hadn’t felt for years had all bubbled up back to the surface. 

 

**Virtual James POV**

 

He hadn’t expected the real him to message him back but he was glad that he had. He knew that the real James had no one else to talk about Daly. But the second he read the message his fears turned his blood to ice. “He’s in a coma now n the drs don’t no when or even if he’ll come back.” The real Daly’s consciousness must still be in the game, sitting there forever in that vessel. How would he be able to cure him if he’s in a coma? He needed to do something he just new not how, so he ran to the bridge.

“Dudani, help me he’s stuck in the game still and his real self is in a coma. I need to find him and get my real self to help him!” “Oh shit he’s in a coma?! Is his consciousness still in the game?! We have to tell him search for a line of code identical to this and type this command in” “Thank you so much!” He almost tripped over his own feet running back to his room to send the life saving text. 

The message he sends he hopes will play at his counterpart's heart strings, because he knew deep down that the real James still held a flame for his friend. ‘U need to pull him out thru ur end. Here is the code you need to find and then the command to bring him back. Save him, so u can finally tell him wat uve wanted to for yrs.’


	3. The Truth Seeping Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In James' emotional state he may have said some things that he never had the courage to say before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer to the happy ending i promised. I just want you to know that virtual James is slowly being written out because i want to focus on the Real James and Robert's relationship.

James Walton CEO of infinity games reenters his partner’s home this time he notices how cold and empty all of it is. He spots the computer and rushes over to the computer and finds it’s still logged in.

“Alright Rob, you better have made your code as clean as it usually is for this.” He opens up the command line for Infinity and pours through the coding looking for traces of his old game. He locates it and finds Daly in code. “Alright so I have to get the receiver back on him and bring him back. But shit he’s still in the hospital and the receiver’s range isn’t that far. So I have to bring his computer over there.” He then realizes he wouldn’t be able to log back in after having to shut it down and unplugging it. 

“Damn It!” He kicks the mini fridge and it opens partially, curiosity always got the better of him and he quickly opened the door to find Petri dishes with a number of office worker’s names on different Ziploc bags. He finds a lollipop with his son’s name and before he had time to think more of it his phone vibrated. 

‘Has he returned?’

He frantically shuts the fridge and types back, ‘idk his login password I can’t bring the computer to hospital to revive him’ 

This time he didn’t have to wait hours for the response. ‘Srsly? Lemme see. Oh wow it’s “star_fleet_captain1” should’ve known’

He wasn’t kidding of course Robert would choose something like that as a password he really was obsessed with that show. James hastily packs the computer and rushes over to the hospital determined to cure him as quickly as possible. 

“I’m sorry sir, but visiting hours for non family members are over. Unless you’re a spouse or a family member I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” 

James wasn’t going to let simple visiting hours stop him from getting his partner back and in his good graces for the company and for both their sakes. He shows her his ring, “I’m his husband let me through!”

“Oh I’m so sorry sir, you should’ve mentioned that before. Go right on through.” 

He’s happy that he still had his ex wife’s ring on his finger and he doesn’t dwell on the fact that years ago, almost a lifetime ago, he had wondered what it’d be like to marry him. James promptly sets up the computer and places a receiver on the sleeping man and prays that this will work. He shoots a text to the mysterious man. ‘I’m ready I hope this works.’

In a matter of seconds he sets up the game and enters the exit code for Daly to return to his body, and nothing. James paces the room trying to cover his tears and his worried face. Maybe if he could get that Dudani guy to come in or maybe…Ideas flood his head of what could’ve gone wrong and how he could go about fixing it when the machines beeps change. He rushes over to the side of the bed in time to see Robert’s eyes flutter open. 

“James?” He doesn’t know when his worried brain had grabbed Robert’s hand and held it in his own. “Welcome back.” He couldn’t hide his tears any longer and they poured down his face like a dam collapsing. With everything Daly’s consciousness had gone through in the past 24 hours, his mind and body was too exhausted to stay awake any longer and he fell asleep. 

When James had felt sure that Robert was fully asleep again he dropped his head and found he no longer had the strength to keep up the pretense. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. But I’m glad I got you back. I know I won’t have the courage to tell this to your face, hell I never did. But losing you made me realize how much I still love you.” He kissed the hand that he held and packed up the computer and left. Unbeknownst to him Robert was still awake enough to hear his partner’s declaration before exhaustion had completely taken him over.


	4. Change of Heart

James hadn’t been in to work since he found his partner comatose in his apartment, hell he hadn’t even found sleep until he left the hospital feeling all the better for bringing him back to the land of the living.  


He decided to hell with work, and when he woke up to a bazillion messages wishing him a merry Christmas. He realized that he had spent the last 24 hours worrying about his partner and completely forgotten about Christmas.

“Shit!” Christmas day, he was supposed to go to his Ex’s and spend the day with Tom. But how could he now that Robert is in the hospital? He knew he had saved him but he was still so very unsure of it all. The shock of hearing his diagnosis had made him paranoid that maybe he hadn’t saved him after all. After deciding he’ll head on over to see his kid after popping by the hospital he grabs his keys and heads out the door. 

Just as he pulls up to the hospital a text arrives. ‘Is he okay?’

‘Yes I got him back, he’s resting.’ In his hurry to find any way at all to save his partner he hadn’t even asked who he was or what his relationship was to Robert.  
As he walked and texted a couple of family members walked by him with presents in their hands, and it occurred to him when the hell was the last time he had given Robert a Christmas present and rushes to the hospital’s gift shop. Thankfully for him the gift shop was still open and there was a section catered to the more nerdy patients and the kids of the hospital. His eyes went straight for a Star Fleet figure and on his way out he spotted a bear that for some reason he felt like he needed to get too. 

When he steps into the room a nurse tells him that he’s out of the coma but he’s still resting and leaves them alone. He places the bear and figure on a table next to them and remembers he hasn’t sent that text inquiring about the mysterious man yet. But before he could another one pops up. 

‘ Dear James Walton,  
Hi, I’m not too sure how I’m supposed to write a message to myself but here we go. I’m the digital copy of you, I have been created and placed in an offline modded version of infinity. Our creator, your CTO, has been using this as an outlet to channel his frustrations from the real world. We have all gone through some horrendous and unspeakable torture. However, despite it all I have sent you to save him. I can’t have a real human’s death on my conscious, plus I know why he did what he did. The real world ignored him, used him, and made him into a quiet monster. (No doubt most of it was from me, or should I say you?) But I have seen the glimpses of good still in him. And we both know that we still love him. I believe that if you were to treat him right, it’ll be good for everyone. Please be kind to him for me.  
Sincerely,  
You '

That was by far the most profound message he had ever received. Everything had clicked the strange box on Robert’s desk, the Ziploc bags in the fridge, the fact that this person seemed to know about those files. Rage curled in his stomach, how could he?! And as swiftly as it came it went after he reread the message. 

This man, the other me, was right about it all. He had treated Robert poorly over the years, in the beginning he had wanted to stop but he didn’t know how. And somehow that’s what their relationship had become. All of the early years of their friendship had seemingly vanished until this whole ordeal. But what had blindsided him the most was himself, how much this other self knew that he still loved him despite everything.  
Something like courage and resolve flooded his mind and he knows now that he must tell him how he feels. He’s been keeping it quiet for far too long, almost losing him had made him realize how fragile everything was. And how everything would fall apart including himself if he had truly passed away. 

Moments maybe even hours pass he lost track of time, rereading the messages and staring at the old photos of them lost in thought. He hadn’t noticed that Robert had woken up until he heard a soft curious voice.  
“James?” The voice had startled him from his thoughts, “Robert! Oh my god you’re back thank God!” “What happened all I remember was being stuck in the game and then you.” “You were in a coma for 10 hours. I went over to your house and found you comatose behind the computer and well here we are.” “I was in a coma? I thought I was stuck in my game. I remember waking up and you were here holding my hand.” James gulps hoping that’s all he remembered. 

“Well yeah you were in your game….And I don’t know how to explain all that happened Rob, it all came and went in a hurry. But the important thing now is that you’re back.””Yeah….how long have you been here?””Since about the time they brought you in. I mean I found some sleep along the way but yeah you’ve been here for a good 24 hours now.””You said you went to my house, so I’m guessing you saw the fridge and the game?”

This made both parties go silent for a while and James leans back in his chair. “Yeah I did, and I should fire you. But we both know the company would go under if I did.””You’re not going to fire me, or sue me?””No, but I wish you would learn your lesson and get rid of everything. I mean what if I’m not there to save you next time?””I know….thank you.” 

The room becomes awkwardly silent again and just then James remembers he had brought presents for him. “Um Robert I know you’ve practically been trapped inside space fleet and you might not want to have anything to do with it anymore but here’s a figurine. I know you probably already have this one and I’m sorry but um…Merry Christmas!” 

Robert blushes and takes the gift and expects it, it’s a figure of the lieutenant from Space Fleet. Ironic considering he had made Walton his lieutenant in his version of the game.”Thank you, I don’t have this one yet.” He can’t remember the last time they had been able to talk to each other without any resentment from either side. Nor can he remember the last time James had given him a gift. 

“You’re welcome oh and hey this was the backup gift in case you had that one or something. I know it’s kind of really cheesy but here.” Robert takes the stuffed bear from James and finds he has no idea how to respond to such a gift. Is James being condescending again or did he honestly just find something in case the other gift didn’t work out? “I know it’s a bit childish I’m sorry I don’t know I saw it and I knew I had to give it to you.” “Thank you.” Silence fell again and James almost bolted from the room unable to take the awkward pressure anymore until he heard a whisper. “Why are you being nice to me?” 

This simple question caught him completely off guard and had broken James in half. It made him wonder had he been so cruel to him that being by his bedside after waking from a coma and being nice to him is absolutely bizarre? He could never be that heartless to leave an old friend and his partner alone in a coma could he? Just then it occurred to him in these past 24 hours he had changed, in his never ending worry for Robert he had reverted back to his old self. The kind, carefree, loving James that he once was in his youth. “I’m sorry…” For the umpteenth time in the past 24 hours tears streamed his face. “I’m sorry for everything.” 

Robert had no idea how to react to this seemingly new James that sat next to him. Everything had been happening so fast since he woke up and for the first time in a long time, in this reality he began to feel something again. He looked at James covering his face trying to will the tears back, and despite it all he couldn’t hate this man in front of him. Especially now that he knew something James had refrained from retelling him. He decided to change the subject and try to break the awkward air around them. “What time is it?” 

“Huh, um lemme check.” James wipes away some more tears with his hands and turns on his phone and gawks at the time. He spent the whole day at Robert’s side that he had forgotten he actually had somewhere to be. “Oh shit!” He grabs his keys and jacket and rushes out of the door. 

Just then he runs into a nurse. “Oh sir I’ve been trying to find a way to get a hold of you. Now that Robert is doing much better he’ll be out in a couple of days. We have to make sure all of his cognitive and motor skills are back. He might even have some amnesia, he can’t seem to remember much.” “Alright thank you, please keep me posted.” And he rushes out of the hospital


	5. A Love Rekindled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These boys finally do some real talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah we're pretty much at the end, thanks for reading everyone i hope you enjoyed this. Just one more epilogue to reassure everyone including myself that they are a happy couple. I need my damn happily ever after, can you blame me though?

Two days later he gets the hospital’s text about a check out time for Robert. With the whirlwind of emotions and the holiday he had avoided seeing him. He was at a loss of how to go on now, their relationship had flipped onto its proverbial head. On one hand he knew he couldn’t keep going on with the way things were, even though it would’ve been the easiest thing to do. No, he owed it to Robert, to his virtual self, and even to himself to change. He finally summoned up enough courage and went to the hospital. 

He peered in and saw Robert was staring out into space but very much awake. “Hey.””Hi.””So I heard you check out today. I’ve come to drive you back.””Thanks.” James strides over to the chair that he pretty much deemed as his own at this point and dropped into it. He knew he needed to talk to Robert and to come clean about everything, but right now he just needs to find a little more courage and the right words. “You didn’t come for a couple days.” “Yeah to be honest Robert, everything’s changed and I needed time to figure out what to do about it all.” Robert looks over at James and silently motions him to continue.  
“I don’t know what to do. Almost losing you had made me realize a lot of things. That I’ve been treating you like shit for years and you just let it all slide. I wish I had stopped myself years ago, but somehow it all just became so easy to expect you to be able to solve everything. I guess in my mind you became a machine that could chuck out anything I asked you to. And I know that’s not a good enough excuse to treat you like shit day in and day out for years. And for that I’m sorry.” 

“How did you save me?” James had hoped he didn’t have to explain everything including his heart, but he figured at this point he had already gone this far. “The virtual me helped me save you.” Robert looks away and back at his hands lost in thought. “I see… What did he say?” James hadn’t originally planned to show Robert the messages hoping that his explanation would suffice but he reluctantly hands the phone over.  
Robert reads the messages and an odd feeling bubbles up inside him and he feels something wet on his face. Tears fall onto the phone dotting the photo and blurs his vision but he presses on until the letter. He had no idea about any of this, he hadn’t known that James nor his virtual version had loved him for so long. He hands the phone back and wipes away his tears trying to pretend that he hadn’t just broken down in front of James. 

James finds it easy now to just reach over and pull the man into his arms and hold him. “It’s okay Rob, it’s okay.” And he kisses his forehead. Robert welcomes the embrace and holds onto his friend, he hadn’t felt any sort of human compassion or love towards him for years. Sure eventually there was the virtual James but every time he came back, the cruel cold reality would sink in. The real world was shit and his best friend now turned evil CEO will most likely treat him like garbage again. 

They held onto each other like they were each other’s life line for what felt like hours but also not long enough. “I heard you that day.” James froze for a minute only to think to hell with it, he already read the messages.”And?” “I didn’t know you loved me.” “I loved you for years, ever since I ran into you that day freshman year.” “It feels like a lifetime ago.” “It really does.” James breaks the hug to look into Robert’s eyes. “I won’t ask you to forgive me for all of those years of shit I put you through, we both know I don’t deserve it. But I hope one day you can.”  
Robert is dumbfounded this man he had loved and despised for years not only shared his affection this whole time but had also seen the error of his ways and promised to change. It was almost too much to take in, he felt like the world had either turned topsy turvy or maybe he was still in the game. And just then he panicked, what if he still was in the game in some weird version of it? Then he felt arms embrace him, and the warmth seeping through him. “You’re okay, you’re out of that game. You’re here this is real.” No, there’s no way Robert could’ve programmed this or even imagined this, but to believe it was real was so surreal to him. 

Before he could dive further into his mind he felt soft lips on his head again and then his eyes locked with the man before him and a soft kiss was placed on his lips. Never in his dreams had he thought that the real James Walton would ever kiss him, he had thought himself too repulsive. But when the kiss threatened to leave he wrapped his arms around the other man and kissed him deeply. He had wanted to throw everything he ever felt at James through this kiss in hopes that even if it was a fluke he’d have this to remember.  
Just then a nurse knocked on the door, bringing them back to reality and trying their best to make themselves presentable. “Sorry about that, but I just wanted you to sign the release form. Then you’ll be free, do make sure to take care of that head of yours and don’t do anything strenuous for a couple of days. And if anything comes up call us. I’ll come to pick this up in a bit.” She places the forms on the bed and walks out the door. 

He doesn’t know who began laughing first but soon neither of them could hold back their laughter, with the absurdity of it all. James picks up the papers and signs them out. “Wait since when can you sign those for me?” “Since I married you.” “Wait what?” James chuckles having forgotten that Robert would have no idea about what he was talking about “Oh nothing, just a joke.” He gathers their things and helps Robert out of the bed, and gets him into a wheel chair that is apparently standard procedure. 

“Let’s go home.”


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happily Ever After Finale.

It’s been 3 months since that eventful day. James had been true to his word and had completely turned around. He convinced the whole office to treat the CTO better and had fired some who had failed to comply. And James had become significantly less cruel to Robert and had even given him more leeway in the company and more power over the choices the company made. As for their romantic relationship it’s still a little rocky but for the most part it blossomed into something beautiful. Robert didn’t want to live in his cold empty apartment anymore and had moved into James’ house. 

Every once in a while James would find himself pondering over what his virtual self was doing and what he meant by the torture that Robert had inflicted on them. But he figured for once he’d let sleeping dogs lie. What he had now with Robert felt magical in every sense of the word. He hadn’t known Robert had a secret romantic side to him. He had taken him out on many wonderful dates and thankfully Robert had spared him from his obsession with space fleet and barely talked about it near him. 

Robert hadn’t known love could be so blissful like this, throughout his whole life he’d only ever loved from afar and felt disgust and scorn from everyone around him. But this, what he has now with James, he never in a million years would’ve expected it to actually happen. And he can’t say he hated a single moment of it, for once he figured he’d let his self conscious and his past be exactly that, in the past and bask in what he has now. 

James twirled his ring around his finger and realized this whole time he had yet to tell him the story nor had he gotten rid of the ring. He takes it off and debates on putting it in his desk but then ends up throwing it in the trash. His ex was happy with a new lover and so was he, he didn’t need anything to remind him of her. Thankfully she still gave him the weekends to see his son, which he's grateful for. But looking back he can’t remember ever feeling this great during his marriage, and thought to himself maybe Robert was his one this whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had initially planned to have them marry or have one of them hold a ring in their pocket. But in a way i feel like they need to work more things out and they kind of are already married in a way.


End file.
